Process of and apparatus for dyeing textile fabrics



P. MIJER March l0, 1931.

PROCESS OF AND APPARATUS FOR DYIEING TEXTILE FABRICS 6 Sheets-Sheet l Filed June 3o, 1924 Snoawfo'c March 1o, 1931. P. MUER 1,796,039

PROCESS OF AND APPARATUS FOR DYEING TEXTILE FABRICS Filed June 30, 1924 6 Sheets-Sheet' 2 Marihloylsalf.

P. MIJER PROCESS' OF AND APPARATUS FOR DYEING TEXTILE FABRICS Filed June so, 1924 6 Sheets-Sheet 3 P. MIJER March 10, 1931.

6 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed June 30, 1924 l M \S w /@/y ,a M 1 um lniwll- Q n Ilflilr Lm flinky/** J;

March' 1o, 1931. RMUER 1,796,039

PROCESS OF AND APPARATUS FOR DYEING TEXTILE FABRICS Marel-i110, 1931. F- MUER 1;796,039

PROCESS 0F AND APPARATUS FOR DYEING TEXTILE FABRICS Filed June 50, 1924 v 6 Sheets-Sheet 6 Patented; 10, 1931 UNITED STATES PATENT oFFlcE PIETER mma, or Naw You, N. r., AssIeNon, BY NESNE ASSIGNMENTS, 'ro THE trwo- ToNE coaronnoN, or New Yonx, N. Y., a coarona'rIoN or Nnw Yoax PROCESS l' .AND APPARATUS FOR DYEING TEXTILE FABRICS lhpplnmeum mea :une so, 1924. seria; Nq. 723,166.

This invention relates to an improved proc- :ess for dyeing or coloring fabrics such as textile fabrics, or for ldyeing or coloring. any

other articles, and relates more particularly to an improved process of dyeing materials or articles preferably in the form of a continuous web, such as continuous pieces ofribbons, silk, cotton, linen and the like; the process is also applicable to the coating of articles l0 or materials with liquids ofv all classes and descriptions.

The invention also relates to-improved apparatus for dyeing or coloring materials or articles, and more particularly to an improved apparatusl for dyeing textile materials; the invention also relates to apparatus for uniformly coating webs of fabrlc or for uniformly coating" articles.

Among the objects of the invention vis to 'I 20 provide a process and an apparatus for subl stantially uniformly dyeing a textile fabric eitherv on one'side or on both sides thereof, either with the same color 'or .with different tones of the same color or with different colors. Another object of the invention is tov provide an apparatus which will continuously and uniformly dye a permeable textile vfabric first on one side thereof and then on the other side thereof. Further' Aobjects ofthe inventionwill be apparent from the following description of somel referred formsof the process, and some pre erred embodiments of the apparatus which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. In the drawings Fig. 1l is a part section and part elevation along the line lM-Av of Fig. 2, said drawing being .partly diagrammatic;

' y Fig. 2 isa sectional plan of Fig. 1with certain parts being broken away to show more clearly the partsbeneath them; Fig.3 is anenlarged elevation ofthe front end of the machine' looking in the direction in whichth'e fabric enters the machine;

Fi 4 is an enlarged section taken on the line -B of Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is a plan view of the driving mechanism; l Fig. 6 shows the mounting of the atomizing 6o means; 2 v

' form extremel small particles thereof; when this-material 1s permeable, it will be found that the dye does not penetrate through the material, which is therefore colored on one side thereof onl it may be similarly colored on the other si e thereof to produce a twotone effect. I refer to form a cloud of extremely finely ivided particles of li uid-dye or colorin matter from which the ops or large particles have been separated out, and I submit the material or articles to be treated to the action of this color cloud, preferabl by traversing the material through a, at

located at the lower portion of the color c oud, so that the finely divided particles of the color cloud settle upon the material, and being free from drops, impurities, and other matter which would form spots upon the material, d es the material evenly, so that the material, presents a substantially evenly-l colored surface, and is suitable for commercial use in the industry in which it is employed, and compares for commercial purposes substantially with the color surface obtainable in the ordinary vat dyeing processes. I prefer the cloud to be dry, that is to sa the finely divided particles are so small t at when they settle upon a fabric which is otherwise color-absorbent they do not ass completely through the abric, as wou d be the case with larger drops,'so that the material is colored on the side which is presented to the cloud but not on the other side. While the cloud ma be run dryer or wetter, that is to say, wit finer or coarser particles in the color cloud, aecordin to the thickness of the material to be colore ,l when it is desired to color the material with difl ferent colors or tones on both sides thereof, .loo

different sides, or different c olors on different 10 thereof.v vSilks andribbonsmade in this form Y so substantial extent below-the surface, but net Y to such an extent that the dye on one sidecare must be taken that thecloud is not So wet that the color will pass completely through the material by the time that the materlal has traversed the cloud; In some cases I prefer to or to heat the material before 1t is expose to the colorr cloud. dyeing textile materials Aon oneside thereof, or with different tonesof the same color on sides, I arrange so that the dye does not penetrate entirely through the material, or beyond a predetermined extent ifV the material is to be dyed on both sides thereof, after passing it through-a color cloud, it is turned over v and passed through another color cloud; in both'cases it is important `that the dye should actually enter sufficiently into the thickness of the material.` In the preferred method of carrying out the -invention the process is carried on to a point where the material is not merely colored on its surface, but the penetrating of the dye into the material takes glace to a substantialextent Zand is followed y the usual steaming operation to fixthe dye. The process is of particular value in i connection with the dyeing of silk piece goods, and I find-that evenpextremelythin silks can be dyedv successfully on both sides of the present process are penetrated to a passesto the other'side thereof.

I will n ow describe the process with. reference to the apparatus embodying my in-A vention and illustrated in Figs. 1 to'6.

. main mec A the dyemg meanscom rlsmg c amber Y lyftothe -V transit.

` The aparatus comprises broadly three anisms,V these bein as follows: v

a the drying means comprising chamber b and the driving mechanism designated by the referenceletterc; y The continuous'web or length of material 1 which is. tovbe colored in theapplaratus passes from the roller 2, 2a through t e dyelng and drying chambers a and b respectivero1ler'3, 3a 4 and is dyed and ried in Dyeing meansI--Thechambera lis widerv .than the width of the material as shown 'in Fig-2, and at each side thereof-is provided i' with atomizing means 4, here shown in the' form of well-known air-brushes; said atomi'zing means may consist of any suitable atomizingl devices capable of producing a l cloudfof extremely neyatomized coloring matter or'dye in suspension which is preferably in a substantially dry. condition, as del scribed hereinafter.. :These brushes 4, of

vvhich six;v arev shown he'1"ein,thr eev on eachside, four being arranged at the right hand end and twoat the left hand end, arel located walls 5, 5 fof the dyechamy ber, 'andinproxiniity Withthe longitudinal Y l walls 6 thereof, andv hrushes 'are;notlT-gf on a table 7 and the transverse wa formed with slots 8, 8 to-permit the passage vof the material through th chamber.v A.

cated direictl above theA material A passing lthrough the ye chamber, vbut are to one side thereof,A with their nozzles substantially parallel to the length'of the material, and are valso located some considerable distance below the roof. l The chamber is supplrted ups 5, are

curved bed 9'is located on the table 7 and .provides an arcuate support for -a belt 10 passing over rollers 11 and 12 the shafts 13 and 14 of which are `suitably mountedil'bearings 15 and 16 en frames 17 and 18, roller 1l being journalled in sliding bearings l'which are adjustable' by means of the screw-conltrolled members 19 to tighten the belt. The

belt 10 and material passes throu h slots4 20,

20'in the drying chamber b beneat the material thereon and over a tension roller=21 beu neath the table 7. The rollers 2, 2a and 3, 3a Q are mounted on shafts 22, 22a, 23,2311 jour nalled infbearings 24, 25 respectively lsuprames 28, 29.

operator can observe the running condition ofthe atomizers and the density of the cloud of atomized-coloring matter within the chamber. Electric lamps 32 in the walls 5,5 -located in proximity with' the longitudinal side .walls 6 facilitate observation within the chamber a, Fig. 3 show' an electric conduit 33 supplyingwcurrent to sockets 33a of said lamps and connected to a' suitable source' of current (not shown).

The air brushes here shown have lgiven ex* i cellent results in practice as atomizing means. 'These brushes are adjustedv to a point wherethey produce a stream of extremelypi'ne minute particles of liquid, coloring matter in sus nsion, which in turn form a cloud within t e dye chamber. l Referring to Fig. 6, the nozzlel 34 of the brush 4 enters-an opening 35 in the trans-- verse wallf5 ofthe dye chamber, and is l mounted upon an adjustable bar 36 connected withthe brackets 37 `screwed to the louter Wall 5 of the dye chamber by screw 38.` It

will be noted that the bar 36 is located between the liquid dyeA inlet 39 of the brush and the air-control trigger 40 which isnormally spring-pressed into a closed position, but 'the effect of mounting the brush upon the bar 36 is to force said trigger 40'intoa position 'to rmitv continuous Passage of air-intothe rush thmugh the-conduit 41; 'rhs brush'isl f l controlled-'to alterfthe v.ratio of air and liql. 25. nerhy meansgfofthe screw-'threaded needlewA` 1 valve member/42, whichfisprovidedwith al uid assing'tli'erethrough in the usual,l manlock-nut 43vv mounted? 'upon the outer'casin'g- '44 .of-fthe :ofthe air-fbrsh;"iir"order to ihldthevalise-elem@ l ss I 5 duit 41 of each brush is connected with the main air manifolds 48 located lone on each side of the dye chamber, and these air vmanifolds are connected together under the cham# ber by pipe 49,and by pipe 50 with a source of compressed air, liquid carbonio acid gas, or other fluid pressure medium; the supply of fluid pressure medium to the manifolds 48 is controlled by the cock 51, and the supply of pressure medium to leach individual atomizing device is controlled by individual cocks 52 mounted on the manifolds and located in the connections 53 between the manifolds 48 and the air pipes 41.

It will be noted by inspection of Fig. 4 that the air-brush nozzle openings are `located at a point to one side o the fabric and not directly above the fabric; it has beenl found that in the operation of atomizing mechanism, small drops tend to form at the spray, and minute particles of dyeor solid matter tend to accumulate around the needle and to clog up the small passages of the atomizing device, thereby causing the atomizer to operate irregularly; this irregular operation is also sometimes due to fluctuations in the supply of 'pressure iuid to the brush; moreover, 1t is usually necessary to perform'adjustments of the brush from time to time to regulate its operation, and were the brush located directl" over the fabric, or were its spray to pass directly over the fabric, this would result in the fabric. becoming spattered with spots or drops from the brush; moreover, when the brush is being adjusted, there are periods when the spray is very wet, that is, contains large particles of the coloring matter in suspension, and periods when the spray is dry, that is, contains very fine o'r very minute particles of coloring matter in suspension. If the .brush is located directly overk the fabric and runs too wet with the formation of larger particles than is desirable, these larger particles tend to cause spots and otherwise prevent the desired even dyeing of the fabric. By locating the aforesaid atomizing means to one side of the apparatus, and awayfrom the fabric itself there is providedpa` zone Within the chamber which may be referred to as theseparating zone, which is here indicated as the zone d bounded by the dotted lines 54. (See Fig. i.) Inthis -separating zone any wet particles or drops coming from the atomizingmeans will fall under their own weight into troughs 55, 55 located at each side of the chamber, because these drops are heavier than the line and minute particles of coloring matter in suspension which I I. vfind their way towards the center of the apparatu's. into the zone e, which I 'calll the settling zone, and through which zone the mate-y rial to be colored passes. There is thus effected so to s eak, a separationof the drops from the lig ter particles of the cloud, so thatthe cloud which vcomes in contact with the material to be treated is made up only of fine or minute particles of coloring matter in suspension without containing parti'- cles which are large enough to form spots on the material. blt will be obvioushowever that where atomizing means are employed which work continuously without adjustment or without spitting, these may be located above the fabricv itself. It will be noted from inspection of Fig. 1, that the atomizing means 4 at the front end of the machine are staggered relative to the atomizing means at the back of the machine sothat the stream of minute particles issuing from the lowermost brush at one end do not come into forcible contact with the ininute particles coming from the other end; in otherwords, the stream of minute particles coming from the different brushes do not directly oppose one another, and thus forml a large quantity of ydrops or wet7 matter. It is further to be noted that the atomizing members shown in Fig. 3 are arranged in sets oneabove the other, the distance therebetween being equal to or greater than the distance between the streams of minute particles in suspension issuing from the atomizing means, so that these streams do not overlap and form drops. It is further to be noted that the roof 55 of the dye chamber is locatedl at a substantial height above the uppermost set of atomizing means,

thereby avoiding the formation of drops by the coa'lescing of the particles of liquid coloring matter upon the roof, which will take place if the roof is located in too close proximity with the atomizing means; any desired number of atomizing means arranged in tiers may be provided according to the rapidity with which it is desired to dye the material, or the depth of the color desired. l prefer to arrange a'n observation window 56 between the two lowermost brushes 4 as shown in Fig. 3, whereby a view of the material can be obtained as it enters the dye chamber. This window may be secured in its open position by means of clips 57. The longitudinal and transverse walls and roof of the chambery are preferablyl built of smooth-surface wood, beaver-board and the like, and transverse and longitudinal curved portions 58, 59 may be provided between the roof 55 and the top of the chamber walls, to guide the upper portion of said cloud to move towards the center of the chamber.

Drying mama-The drying chamber B comprises the transverse walls GO, 61, longitudinal walls 62, 62, roof 63 and bottom wall 64. The chamber is mounted upon a frame 65 andthe bottom wall 64 thereof supports'alieating element here shown' asa steam-100x665 divided by longitudinal bafvfle plates 67y (see Fig.v 3) and having a tom wall 64fby asbestos packing69 arranged in the casing 70. Steam is supplied to said steam-box throu h the steam Yinlet 71`con'- l ber with or without tension according to the trolled by vcock 2 and the steam and con-` densation water is withdrawn from. said steam-box lthrough a suitable conduit '73.v

vDrvz'ag means-Means arel provided for driving the belt 10 and for traversing the fabric across the dye chamber 4and drying chamnature ofthe material. The driving mechanism comprises a drive motor 80 which drives through a suitable belt'and pulleys, a changespeed mechanism 81 connected to drive a speed-reducing mechanism 82. Speed-reducing mechanism 82 has a removable sprocket of the belt vand the speed of the fabric may be v 83'connectedb chain 84 with -th'e sprocket 85 on shaft 14 of t e roller 12 (Fig. 2). Another removable sprocket `86 is provided" on said shaft 14 connected bychain 87 with removable sprocket 88.0n the shaft 23 of'. the roller -3. The ends of shafts 14 and 23 may be elongated to receive sprockets 86a, S65, 88a, v88?), respectively, attached to 'sa'id lshafts by set screws. Wide. variations in spee'd between the shafts 14 and 23 can be effected accordin to whichever pair of sprockets are connected up by a sprocket chaingfwhereby the relative speeds lof the belt andthe fabric may be altered at w'ill. Furthermore, by means of the 'change-speed mechanism both the speed changed without disturbing the predetermined ratio of speed desired between the belt and the material.- The shaft 22 of the vroller 2 may be provided with a removable sprocket 89 which may, when desired, be connected with aremovable'sprocket 90 on the shaft 13 of roller 11 by means ofa chain 91 wherebyl to drive Isaid roller 2 when it is desired to feed the material through the dye chamberwith out tension at the incoming end.

While it is preferred to have the belt and fabric travel at the same speeds, good results have been obtained with the belt travelling 'fslightlyfasterthan the fabric.

The construction and operationof the y'change-speed mechanism and: the speed-reducing'mechanism will be understood. with particular reference to Fig. 5,,from which it willbe noted that the drive motor 8O has a pulley,100 thereon, driving belt 101 connected to pulley 102l of the aforesaidchan espeed l gearing which is diagrammatica y represented herein. Beingof a 'well-known v Y* have the effect of smoothing out the which tend to form in the materialas 1t passesA ythrough the dye chamber. The V-shaped pulley 102 andthe pulle 104; it being understood that any'suitab e chan -speed device can bel employed instead o mechanism ofthe Reeves type. Pulley 104 is connected b belt. 105 to ulley 106 of speed-reducing `msecbanism frarliie 107, which pulle *A 106 is mounted on shaft 108 journaled in 109 and provided with a worm 110 driving worm-wheel 111 on transverse shaftv 112 lmounted in bearings 113, and rovided at one end with gear 114 meshing with gear 115 at the end ofshaft 116 mounted in bearin s 117' on the frame 107. The other end of sai shaft 116 has a smaller shaft end 118 carrying the aforesaid removable sprocket 83 secured thereon b means of set screw 83a.

arings Smoot ing or stretckin connection with some materials which have a tendency to wrinkle or form folds either lonthrough the portion ofthe dye chamber in the Y plane Aof the openings 8 .and represents the e belt .and fabric passing through said dye chamber vsimilar to the arrangement shown. in Fig. 2. As here shown' diagrammatically, the means employed are V-shaped elements cusv 150, arranged beneath the fabric but above the. belt (see Fig. 2) with the apexes 1 51 ofY saidtmembers out ofalignment withl one another, butpointing in the direction opposite to that in which ,the fabric passes through the Y l apparatus, and projecting sli' htly above ithe belt. These elements are pre erably formed by bars covered with smooth rubber, and the ends 152thereof do not project out from .un der theedges of the fabric; these elements serve to stretch the fabrictransversely, and

members 150 are connected together and held in. position in the chamber by means of the wires 153 all of which are protected from the',`

effect of the deposition of coloring matter thematerial to be dyed. The end wires-1.54' proj ect outside the dye chamberand are sult- Pressing and, heat'ng.-Therollers may sometimes, though notA necessarily always, be employed for pressing or heating. -A

or both pressmg and heatin the Yfabric prior to its passing intolthe dye c amber. .To this end roller 2 may be .mounted in adjustable bearings 161, as shown dia mmatically-in Figs. 1.and'2, controlled by".v and-wheels- 160. The bearings '161 may be 'substantially similar to the Aacljustable bearings 'of the shaftV` les i 1.15 t v' owing to the factthat they are located below i 13. Roller 2a'constitutes the vpressing' roller and/roller 2constitutes the heatin roller, and to that end' may be connected y pipe 162 to a source of steam supply. The pressure upon the material as it passes between the rollers 2 and 2a can be varied by ad- 'justing the hand-wheel 160; moreover, the

material can pass through said rollers without pressure, if desired, in which case the upper surface of the material will be heated;

ythe employment of this device is optional,

and the same may be driven at variable speeds as already explained. Means are provided for preventing the -formation of drops on the edges of parts which overhang the fabric as it passes through the machine, which drops would fall upon the fabric these means are here illustrated as heating means comprising the transverse pipes 170, which overhangthe slots 8, 8 of the transverse walls 5. 5, and are connected'with steam-pipe 171,

thearrangement being such that by opening cock 172, steam enterssaid pipes 170 whereby to heat them' any particles of' coloring matter or dye which may collect upon the transverse walls 5, 5 and tend to creep down the sides of said walls and form drops at effected in the apparatus; in the-form of airbrush here illustrated, the dye inliquid form y in -the container 46 is drawn into the airbrush by aspiration; the liquid dye'is prepared in the same mannerlas in the usual vatv dyeing processes, but the solution may in some cases be considerably more concentrated and vshould be carefully strained. The degree of concentration depends upon the final tint of color desired, as hereinafter described.

The' air-brush is-regulated so as to produce a stream of extremely minute particles of liquid brush can be individuallyadwsted by means-- dye held in suspension in the. air. With some or all of the brushes in operation, depending upon the depth'of color required, a cloud soon forms in the a paratus; each of the cocks 52 and needle valves 42, and the entire battery of brushes canvbe shutoff simultaneously by meansof cockl 51 when the cocks 52 are open.l The minute liquid particles in the cloud begin to settle upon the malte-A -rial as -it passes through the settling zone E of the dye chamber, and colors it on one side thereof. It is t0 noted that the cloudforms coloring matter.

in front of the air-brush spray, and that no portion of this air-brush spray is located directly above the fabric, so that any large particles, drops, or particles of solid matter which may drop from the air-brush spra by gravity, do not drop on the fabric itsel but drop to one side'thereof; in other words, the'fabric is not subjected to the direct action of the air-brush spray itself, or to the droppings or spatterings of the air-brush, but only to the action of the cloud. This cloud is continuously formed by the batter of airbrushes and continually deplete of color which settles by gravity on to the material as it moves across the bottom of the chamber. T hc particles and drops which settle or fall in the zones D, D in proximity with the air-brushes 'collect in 'troughs 55 (Fig. 4). The material is preferably drawn through the chamber by sewing to the leading edge thereof a Wide piece of muslin or the like, which is then attached to the belt 10 and drawn through the chambers A and B by the belt 10; the leading edge of the muslin is then passed between rollers 3, 3a; the chamber A is charged with the color cloud, and when the desired density is obtained, which is observed through the Windows 23 or determined by the length of the operation of the brushes, all the length of muslin is drawn through the chambers and the other textile such as silk or the like attached thereto passes into y the dye chamber A and moves continuously through lthe chamber while receiving therein a continuous exposure to the settling of. minute particles of'coloring matter from the cloud, and by the time the material has passed through the dyeing chamber, it has received a substantially evenly distributed settling of minute particles of coloring matter, and is therefore substantially evenly dyed and presents a substantially evenly colored sur- It is important that the material in through the machine, l should be evenly presented to the cloud to avoid the formation of streaks, and to this end the tension upon the material is adjusted so that the material lies at upon the belt 10, but where the material tends to form longitudinal folds, it may pass over the aforesaid V-shaped smoothing. or

face. passing folds or wrinkles tend tovbe 4smoothed out so that when a 'ven len h of material has traversed the dye cham r, it will be found that all' portions lthereof have been substantially evenly, exposed to the de The material be ore passing iii stretching elements which break up the folds or wrinkles; that 1s, the

osit-ion ofv v over the roller 3 passes through thedrying Y chamber b, the heat of which is suchthat both the belt and the material is thorou hly dried before leaving the chamber. The vction ofthe belt 10 which preferably travels slower-than the material, is not vonly to provide a moving surfaceon which the material las.

v .in Fig. 2, and these edges form a surface for the edges of the material to travel along which-protect the undersurface of the fabric from streaking; the belt 10 in passin through the drying chamber, is also drie so that said belt presents the'function of cona tinuously conveying color from the topi of -vthe bed 9 which would otherwise form puddles and drying up said color in the drying chamber. As a result, thelmaterial if it should shift slightly sidewise, does not pick" up moisture from the belt as would be the case were it to travel along the wet bottom of v the bed or ofthe chamber without the interthrough the drying chamber, and thereby' vening belt surface. By passing thebelt 10 drying it, the entering material 1 always travelsn upon a substantially. dry surface. Moreover, the same -a paratus may be used to color different widtiis of material without any adjustment. The extent of enetration of the dye into the fabric depen s upon the length of time the material remains in the chamber and the wetness of the cloud. It is to be noted as to that ortion of the cloud above the settling zone w lich consists of very fine particles of coloring matter in suspension that this cloud is in motion, and while certain portions of said cloud may be denser than other portions thereof, it presents the characteristic that it is made up of particles which are so fine that they Vdo not form drops in settling on the fabric, so that even though the cloud maybe uneven as to the density of the particles therein, nevertheless since any given portion of the material which traverses the apparatus is subjected to the same conditions as any other portion of the material,the material comes out evenly colored after it has passed through the dye chamber. Moreover-, Vwherev the material tends to formfolds or creases, and the use of the smoothing or stretching` devices hereinbefore described `is adapted, by the time a 'ven length ofmaterial has passed throug the apparatus, the

the fabricwill be -found to present a substan Y folds or wrinkles therein have been forced to shift their positions successively, so that no one fold or Wrinkle has remained undisturbed for more than` a short part of its traverse through the chamber, and by the time the given portion of the -fabric has entirely passedthrough the chamber, the folds will have been so disturbed and smoothed out that tially even surface throu hout. Wherethe material lies fiat' upon the i lt, without formlng folds, it will not be necessaryto use 'the aforementioned smoothing or Astretching Y v members, which have been found to be par- I ticularly useful in connection with the dyeing of'certain Silks which tend to form creases during the dyeing operation. The material leaves the dye chamber in a dampl condition ing chamber it should erable to luse the apparatus for dyeing the material on one side only; nevertheless a comlete penetration of the dye through the fa- A ric can be effected if the spray is made quite wet, or if the material passes through the dyel ing chamber extremelyslowly.l But if it is not desired to penetrate more than a predetermined amount, as is the case where the rocess is employed for coloring material on th sides, `the material will ybe moved through the dye chamber'at such speed that the penetration of the dye will not` exceed ,the

the opposite side thereof by placing it in a second apparatus similar to the apparatus just described, as `illustrated diagrammati-Y color or tone onl the opposite side thereof.k v Attention isdirected to the fact that the shape of the cloud is substantially rectangular but that the longitudinaldimension is far greater than the transverse dimension; in other words, I use a substantially long cloud and traverse the material through this long cloud.

It will be understood from reference to Fig. 7 thatinasmuch as the V-shaped bars therein illustrated do not project out underneath the fabric they will form a narrow selvage or bar of light color at the extreme longitudinal edges of the fabric, whichk is not at all obj ectionable since a large number` of materials are employed with a selvage; said V-shaped members can extend out beyond the edge of the fabric when the fabric is passed through the dye chamber with a continuous web, as is common in textile machinery; it will of course be understood that thisweb will be of relatively thin material and will be fed Valong with the fabric to be colored on the under side thereof over the belt 10. t

In the case where the fabric tends to shrink substantially in the dyeing process, as is the case with certain grades of crpe de Chine, I prefer to traverse it lbeneath the color cloud by means of any suitable tenter frame mech- Vdesired point; thereafter it may be dyed on or`steam may be mixed with compressed air or the like when-desired. Y

What I claim is- 1. The process of coloring a web of permeable fabric consisting in forming two color clouds while separating the heavy particles j or drop from the lighter particles of said clouds, and traversing the material under the separated lighter particles of said clouds, and exposing one face to one of said clouds and the other face to the other of said clouds.

2. The method of coloring materials which lconsists in forming two clouds of atomized coloring matter, heating the ,material and traversing the material relative to one cloud,

while exposing one side thereof to said cloud,

again heating the material, and traversing. the material relative to the other cloud, While exposing the other side of thev material to the other cloud.

. tling zone for a cloud of finely divided vpar-` ticles in said chamber and means for trav- Y ersin the material through the settling zone.

'5. dyeing or coloring app-aratus comprising al dye chamber and means for traversing a continuous web of material along a path in said chamber, and atomizing means includin a nozzle arranged with its axis in a plane su stantially parallel with but out bf vertical alignment with the path of the material in ,said-chamber.

6. A dyeing or coloring apparatus comprisingv a dye chamber, means for traversing a continuous vvebl of material along a. path in said chamber, atomizing means "producing a stream of finely divided particles of liquid dye in'said chamber, said stream being rojected by said means in a plane substantially parallel with butv out of vvertical alignment th the path of the material in said chamr. 7. A dyeing or coloring apparatus Acomprising a dye chamber, meansfor formin a color cloud thei"ein,'said chamber forme l the drying chamber.

' s. A- dyein or coloring apparatus .comprisinga tab e, a heatinlg element forming a continuation of the pat of-'the upper surface of said table, a dye chamber-on said table,

'f means for forming a color cloud in said cham- Y. ber, and means for traversing material to be coloreda'cross'said table and-heating means.

wformirfig separating vzones Iwith an interme: diate settling zone, and a. bed located at the A-dyeing orcoloring apparatus includfing a dye: chamber with atomizing means with openin' c'ated therein and forming separating zones with an intermediate settling zone, an arcuate bed located at the bottom of said chamber in said settling z'oneyand a conveyer belt trav-r ersing said arcuate bed.

l11. A dyeing or coloring apparatus comprising a dye chamber, an atomizig. device, a pan located directly below said atomizing device in a position to receive droppings from said atomizing device, and means for traversing a continuous web of material through said chamber at the side of said pan.

12. A dyeing or coloring apparatus including a dye chamber, atomizing means located to produce with the chamber separating and .at either end of said chamber and disposed settling `zones for a cloud of finely divided articles of liquid color or dye in said chams er, and means for Atraversing the material through the settling zone..

13. A dyeing. or'coloring apparatus comprising a dye chamber, atomizing means for said chamber adapted to produce/streams of s finely divided particles of liquid matter, said atomizing means located at opposite ends of the chamber vin such. positions that said streams do not substantially intermingle, and said atomizing means being disposed in said' chamber to produce separating and settling `zones`for a cloud of the \said finely dividedl traversing the material t rough the settling zone. v

14. A dyeing or coloring apparatus comprising a dye chamber and a plurality of atomizing means adapted to produce a stream of `finely divided particles, said atomizing means arranged in tiers with the distance between each tier greater than the thickness of' one of said streams, to avoid a substantial intermingling of said streams.

15. A dyeing or coloring apparatus comprising longitudinal and transverse walls, openings in said transverse walls, means for continuously traversing the material through said openings in said transverse walls, all

particles in said chamblr, and means for 1 portions of said longitudinal andY transverse with openings therein; la drying chamber having openings therein, and a belt traversingthe openingsin the dye'chamber and in walls bein spaced away from .the path ofY the material except the portions overhanging said openings) whereby toavoid drops from or coloring apparatus inf color c oud in said chamber, a iiexible-web.

means for traversing said web through said chamber, and means for varying the relative i .speed between the flexible web and thematerial traversing means.

17'. A dyeing or coloring apparatus coinprising a dye chamber havingv walls formed therein, means for forming a color c oud insaid chamber, and means 1o'- cated on said walls overhanging' said material'to prevent drops falling from said'walls on said material. Y

18. Apparatus for dyeing textilermaterials comprising means for forming a Vcloud of minute particles of finely divided coloring matter, means for traversing. a textile fabric relative to said cloud and controlling means whereby said cloud only-.partially penetrates said textile material.

19. Apparatus for dyeing textile ,materials comprising means forforming a cloud of minute particles of nely divided coloring matter, means for traversing a textile fabric relative to said cloud and controlling means 5 whereby the extentv of penetration of the Y dye can be varied. l 20. A process of dyeing textile fabrics which consists in atomizing the dye liquid in a gaseous medium, and in conveying the dye laden medium in addition to driving it by fresh oncoming quantities of the same away from its source of formation to a sufficient extent to eliminate drops'and particles of appreciable size and to substantially expend the kinetic pressure of the said dye or color laden medium; Vand thereafter, but not till then, causing the resultant substantially quiescent cloud to make contact with the fabric by traversing the fabric relative to the cloud.

` 3o 21. A process of dyeing textile fabrics which consists in accumulating the ner v i atomized particles issuing from an atomizing device in a cloud chamber in the form of a cloud of substantial volume and traversing 'las the fabric'to be dyedunder said cloud Without exposing the fabric in its path of travel' to the spraying of liquid particles issuing from the atomizing device and While said particles are under substantial spray velocity.

40 22. Process of coloring a web of permeable l, rating the dye particles of saidportions.

' 55 therewith..

, ltextile fabric which consists in spraying a liquid dye in one locality, leading the atomized dye spray to form a color-cloud in another locality, and continuously traversing the fabricK relative to and in contact with the Acloud in said other locality.

" 23. Process of coloring or dyeing fabrics consisting in exposing the fabric to a colorcloud while preventing portions of said color cloud from settling on the fabricby evapo-A 24; Method of coloring textile fabric, com-l prising-forming a color cloud, heating the color cloud, and passingthe fabricinV contact `i 25.' A dyein or coloring apparatus comi prising a cham er, means forforminga color cloudin said chamber, means for traversing a textile material through saidchamber rela- 69 tive to the colorcloud, and means for heat-j p i ing thevcolor cloud.

:In testimony whereo I have signed my v `name to this specification. Y i

PmrnRMiJER; 

